Facebook has removed 32 pages and accounts from Facebook and Instagram for being involved in a coordinated campaign to influence social media users ahead of a crucial mid-term election vote in the US.

The accounts, which were followed by over 290,000 Facebook users, were created between March 2017 and May 2018, the social media giant said. They spent $11,000 (£8,400) on 150 Facebook and Instagram ads, the last of which was created last month.

The company said it was unable to link any of the accounts or pages to Russia, but admitted that some of their activity was “consistent” with that of the Internet Research Agency, a Kremlin-backed organisation accused of interfering with the 2016 presidential…